Could James Hagens have a big impact on the Bruins this season?
The NHL Trade Deadline is usually considered the last chance for a team to improve its roster for a playoff run. Every so often, however, a team can get a late-season influx of talent from the NCAA, as the college season wraps up with about a month left to go in the NHL season. One of those teams this year could be the Boston Bruins, who are currently occupying a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and can add Boston College forward James Hagens as soon as his college season is done.
The Bruins selected Hagens seventh overall in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. In 33 games with Boston College this year, he has 23 goals and 22 assists for 45 points. If he can provide an offensive boost for the Bruins down the stretch, it could be the difference between them making or missing the playoffs.
On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by Daily Faceoff’s prospect analyst Steven Ellis to discuss the impact Hagens could have on the Bruins this season.
Carter Hutton: The one for me that stands out is the Boston Bruins’ pick, James Hagens out of Boston College. He’s so good. He was the seventh overall pick. Is he a player that can jump in and be a difference maker for Boston moving forward? I believe Boston College is still playing right now so his goal is to help them win, but he seems like a guy that can really help out.
Steven Ellis: Yeah, he’s been playing some absolutely lights out hockey the last couple weeks. I believe since coming back from the World Juniors, he’s only played two games without a point. He’s just such a consistent player. He’s getting better at shooting the puck. I think the one big thing about him is he can still be a bit of a perimeter player, and I think in the NHL that is a very difficult situation to be in. What we’re seeing from him is high-end hockey sense. He’s a really good skater, he’s fluid, he can start and stop very quickly, he’s getting better at being defensively minded. He’s a really good two-way center at this point.
We talk about sometimes a team making a “trade-deadline addition”, which is just waiting for your young guys to come up out of college. I feel like that’s something for Boston. They didn’t make a ton of moves at the deadline. Having someone like Hagens go out there, potentially playing maybe top-six if this team makes the playoffs, I could see that being a situation there.
You can catch the full discussion and the rest of Friday’s episode here…